Clothes supporting attachment for ironing boards



Jan. 20', 1959" A. F. HlPP 2,869,259

r CLOTHES SUPPORTING ATTAcm/IENTFQR IRONING BOARDS Filed may 25, 195e 'lill/I1A rl/IlIll/11111111111IllIlllllllll/l/llllltl/llr1.Il

United States Pate CLOTHES SUPPORTING ATTACHMENT FOR IRONING BOARDS Augusta F. Hipp, Portland, Greg.

Application May 25, 1956, Serial No. 587,363

4 Claims. (Cl. 38-106) This invention relates to new and useful improvements in clothes supporting attachments for ironing boards, and constitutes an improvement over the device disclosed in my prior Patent No. 2,165,548, granted July il, 1939.

The principal object of the present invention is the provision of an attachment comprising an apron adapted to extend transversely beneath an ironing board whereby to ceive and support material being ironed out of contact with thelloor, a pair of arms generally parallel to the edges of the board and supporting .said apron, said arms being pivoted whereby to be adjustable to extend either direction from a point intermediate the ends of the board, whereby said apron may be supported at various positions along the length of the board, and particularly to an improved means for supporting said arms adjustably.

Another object is the provision of means whereby said arms may be adjusted to vary the space therebetween or may be recessed out of the way substantially entirely beneath the board if desired.

Other objects are simplicity and economy and construction, convenience and eficiency of operation, and adaptability for use with many different pre-existing types of ironing boards.

With these objects in view, as well as other objects which will appear in the course of the specification, reference will be had to the drawing, wherein:

Fig. l is a perspective view, partially broken away, of an ironing board showing an attachment embodying the present invention applied thereto,

Fig. 2 is an inverted plan view of the parts shown in Fig. l, with parts broken away,

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken on line III--III of Fig. 2, and

Fig. 4 is an enlarged sectional view taken IV--IV of Fig. 2.

Like reference numerals apply to similar parts throughout the several views, and the numeral 2 applies generally to an ironing board assembly of a common type including a generally planar horizontal board 4 supported above the oor by legs 6. It will be apparent that said legs or other supporting substructure may be of numerous different types, collapsing or non-collapsing, without affecting the operation of the attachment here described.

The attachment forming the subject matter of the present invention comprises a plate adapted to be secured tixedly to the lower surface of board 4 intermediate the ends thereof by any suitable means such as screws 10, and a pair of arms 12 and 14 carried adjustably by said plate, as will be described. Said arms are disposed substantially parallel to the respective longitudinal edges of board 4, and each has an end portion thereof bent to extend horizontally and transversely of board 4 beneath plate 8, and being designated as axle portions 16 and 18 respectively. Said axle portions are disposed in a horizontal plane and are spaced apart longitudinally of the board, and each is supported pivotally in a pair of perforated ears 20 struck out from plate 8. The arms 12 and 14 are thus pivotal from a position extending toward the on line Patented dan. 20, 1959 rounded end of the ironing board, as shown in Fig. 1 and in solid vlines in Fig. 2, to an opposite position extending toward the squared end of the board, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2. Each of arms 12 and 14 is rendered adjustable in length by means of a tubular extension 22 which is telescopedslidably thereon. A pliable apron 24 of cloth or other suitable material extends between and is attached along its opposite edges to arm extensions 22, the apron preferably having its edges sewed to form tubes 26 litting slidably over said extensions. Said apron hangs loosely beneath board 4.

Arm 12 has the free end portion of its axle portion 16 bent to extend oppositely to arm 12, and substantially parallel to said arm in a vertical plane, whereby to form a stop 28. Arm 14 has the free end portion of its axle section 18 similarly bent to form a stop 30. It will be seen, however, that each of said stops is specially formed transversely to the plane established by the associated arm and axle. Specifically, stop 28 is iirst bent downwardly from said plane to form a hump or otset 32 which passes beneath and bridges axle 18, while the extreme free end portion 34 of said stop is bent to extend above the plane of the associated arm and axle by a distance equal to the distance that hump 32 extends below said plane. In the portion shown in solid lines in Fig. 2, end 34 engages plate 8 to support arm 12 in a horizontal position.

Stop 30 of arm 14 is formed oppositely to stop 28, having a hump or offset 36 extending above the plane of the associated arm and axle, and having its free end 38 extending below said plane. in the solid line position in Fig. 2, hump 36 engages plate S to support arm 14 horizontally. When the position of arms 12 and 14 is reversed to the dotted line position shown in Fig. 2, the position of stops 28 and Sil is reversed as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3, hump 32 of stop 2S engaging plate 8, while hump 36 of stop 3@ bridges axle 16 and end 38 of stop 3d engages plate 3. Thus the two arms may be supported in either of their two positions solidly and accurately, with no interference between their stops and axles.

In operation, the parts are positioned as shown in Fig. l, apron 24 being adapted to receive and support the depending portions of clothing being ironed, whereby to prevent said clothing from being soiled by contact with the floor. The position of the apron along the board may be adjusted freely either by sliding the extensions 22 along` the arms, or by reversing the arms to the dotted position shown in Fig. 2. The apron of course cannot pass through the legs 6 of the board, and said legs do to some extent interfere with the free positioning of said apron.. However, it is nevertheless possible, by distorting said apron around the legs, to dispose it to receive and support virtually anything which can be ironed on the board. Moreover, many boards have only the equivalent of one supporting leg, and this would not interfere in any way with the positioning of the apron at any point in the length of the board.

The distance between the arms may be freely adjusted by sliding the axles 16 and 18 of the arms longitudinally in bearing ears 2li. Also, it will be seen that said arms may be collapsed to their minimum length and pushed inwardly so as to be disposed substantially entirely beneath board 4. in this position they are out of the way and will not interfere with normal use of the board.

While l have shown and. described a specific embodiment of my invention, it will be apparent that minor changes of structure and operation could be made without departing from the spirit of the invention as dened by the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim as new and desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

l. An attachment for use in connection with an ironf' 2,869,259 j j ingboard having means for supporting it above the ftoor, said attachment comprising a mounting plate adapted to be secured against the lower side of said board, a pair of bearing supports carried by said mounting plate, a pair of arms disposed substantially parallel to the edges of said board, each of said arms having a right-angled axle portion adjacent one end thereof, said axle portions being pivoted respectively in said bearings beneath said plate and offset transversely from each other in the same horizontal plane, said axle portions having coextensive portions at the ends thereof remote from said a. ns, whe i said arms may be pivoted through substantially 180 degrees to extend horizontally in either direction from said bearings, each of said axle portions having an elongated right-angled stop projection at the end thereof remoto from said arm and operable to engage said plate to si. port the associated arm in either of said horizontal tions and of greater length than the offset between said axle portions, said stop projection being otset intermediate its free end and the end thereof secured to said axle portion whereby to bridge the axle portion of the other arm, and a pliable apron extending beneath said board and releasably attached at its opposite edges to said arms.

2. The structure as recited in claim 1 wherein each of said arms is a continuous bar formed to present longer and shorter parallel end portions connected by an intermediate portion substantially at right angles to said end portions, the longer of said end portions forming the apron-carrying portion of said arm, the shorter of said end portions forming said stop projection, and said connecting portion forming said axle portion.

3. The structure as recited in claim 1 wherein the axle 'portions of said arms are longitudinally movable in said bearings, whereby to adjust the distance between said arms.

4. The structure as recited in claim 1 wherein each of said stop projections extends from the associated axle portion at right angles thereto and oppositely from the associated arm, the offset of said projection projecting transversely to a plane including the associated arm and axle portion, and having its free end extended an equal distance to the opposite side of said plane last named, said offset being spaced from the end of said stop projection secured to the axle portion by a distance, measured in said last named plane, equal to the spacing between said axle portions, the offsets of the respective stop projections being opposite with respect to said last named plane whereby when said arms are positioned to extend toward either end of the board, the offset of one of said stop projections will engage said plate to support the associated arm, and the free end of the other stop projection will engage said plate to support the other of said arms, the offset portion of the latter of said projections serving to bridge the axle portion of the arm not associated therewith.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,818,582 Rosacker Aug. 11, 1931 2,139,809 Dolge Dec. 13, 1938 2,165,548 Hipp July 1,1, 1939 

